Former Ridger competes on TV game show tonight

And the answer is — Being a member of the Scholar's Bowl team at Oak Ridge High School can lead to bigger things in life. At least it has for 2001 ORHS graduate Matt Collins.

Russel Langley/The Oak Ridger

And the answer is — Being a member of the Scholar's Bowl team at Oak Ridge High School can lead to bigger things in life. At least it has for 2001 ORHS graduate Matt Collins.Collins will appear at 9 tonight on the game show "Hollywood Game Night" hosted by actress Jane Lynch on NBC, which is seen locally on WBIR-TV Channel 10.Collins, who lives in Annapolis, Md., is a University of Tennessee graduate, Navy reservist, and civilian employee of the U.S. Navy. He grew up in Oak Ridge and still has many friends and family in the area.He and his wife, Kristen are fans of the “Hollywood Game Night” show and he decided to apply online after one episode, thinking his bachelor's degree in history might help him with the quizzes. After a series of phone and Skype interviews, he said, he was flown to Los Angeles."They paid for my airfare and hotel for the weekend," Collins said.Once in California, he said he faced one more hurdle getting on the show, a face-to-face interview with a TV producer. After successfully clearing that hurdle, he was filmed as a contestant on the show.Collins said the show is a series of various games along the lines of charades, Taboo, and Catch Phrase. There are two contestants and each contestant is teamed with three celebrities. Collins' team consisted of Wayne Brady, host of “Family Feud,” Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski, and Lauren Cohan who plays "Maggie" in the hit TV show "The Walking Dead."The show’s host is Lynch, who is best known from her role on “Glee.”His opponent's team consisted of celebrity chef Rachael Ray, Jaime Pressly of "My Name is Earl;" and Zachary Levi of the television show "Chuck."Collins couldn’t reveal how he did on the show, pending the airing of tonight’s show. His family will watch the show at Calhoun's restaurant in Maryville. Collins and Kristen are driving from Maryland to enjoy the show with their families.Russel Langley can be reached at (865) 220-5514.